Thursday, June 10, 2010

2007 Topps 52 Rookies Fernando Cortez

Who is this? Birmingham Barons infielder Fernando CortezWhat is this? An autograph card from the 2007 Topps 52 Rookies setWhere'd I get it? I got it signed before a Newark Bears game earlier this year.How much did it cost? Not sure -- maybe a quarter?Why is this so special? Fernando Cortez was a ninth round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2001. He worked his way up through the farm system and earned a cup of coffee in 2005. He was traded to Kansas City in 2006 as part of the deal for J.P. Howell.

Cortez earned another brief shot in the majors with the 2007 Royals, and that was it. Since then, he's played for a number of minor league teams and even found himself in independent ball this year. In 35 games for the Newark Bears, he hit .313 with 3 home runs and 14 RBI.

Earlier this month, the Chicago White Sox signed Cortez and assigned him to AA Birmingham.

Cortez has an illegible autograph, but maybe it looks better if he has more time to sign. He was quickly signing for me and a few other people before he had to get ready for the game.

1 comment:

I love the lesser known players. For a long while I followed exclusively obscure players. Not prospects, just random players who caught my eye. It was fun, learned a lot about the 'movement' of baseball in this country.

A quick note on links

I'm only putting autograph-related links in this blogroll. However, if you have a blog or a collector site not specifically about autographs, but with an autograph page or an "autograph" label on your blog posts, I'll put that link here.